What if
by Perinne
Summary: Today is the start of my fourteenth year at the School, sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get out. What if Jeb's plan to rescue the flock had failed and they had never escaped the School?
1. Chapter 1

My fourteenth year in the School starts today. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get out. There was some hope, years ago; a scientist, or Whitecoat, named Jeb Batchelder had tried to kidnap me and five others like me. He had tried to help us escape, hoping to give us a somewhat normal life outside the School.

Needless to say, his plan failed. I will spare you the details; I don't exactly like to talk that night anyway, but basically the it ended with Jeb dead and the 'experiments' he had been trying to liberate separated, taken away to different areas of the school where we would never see each other.

I haven't seen Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy or Fang since that day, but I thought about them every now and then. Wondering if they were still alive, if Nudge still liked to talk, if Fang still liked to not talk, wondering how much they had changed.

I was snapped from my thoughts by the sound of a Whitecoat entering the room where I was caged.

"Hello Maximum," He greeted me, polite as ever, bending down to unlock the padlock on my dog crate.

"What, no present?" I asked, feigning surprise. "Martin, I expected better of you. How could you forget my birthday?" I looked at his pasty features with disgust.

Martin ignored me, as he had been doing for a long time. He grabbed me by the collar of my plain grey shirt and dragged me forwards.

"That's no way to treat a lady," I scolded him. "It's no wonder you're still single."

That seemed to strike a nerve and I smirked as he turned to face me.

"I happen to be very happily married thank you."

My smirk widened. "Oh, yeah? Then where's the ring, buddy?" I asked, gesturing to his ring-less left hand.

Martin's face reddened and he narrowed his eyes threateningly. "Looks like another day on the treadmill for you, Maximum."

I mentally groaned, yet another day of being forced to run as fast as I can whilst carrying weights and being watched by creepy men wearing white coats.

"Well, carry on." I told Martin, waving my hand dismissively. "I'll be right behind you."

His face reddened even further and he hauled me to my feet and dragged me towards the door.

"You know what?" I asked him. "I've heard that a red face is often a sure sign of high blood pressure, you should go get it checked out."

He went back to usual plan and ignored me.

I sighed and lapsed into silence myself, watching as we walked past countless white doors set in the blank, white walls.

I don't know why they kept me in a cell so far away from the treadmill room, I mean, I went there nearly every second day, it must annoy Martin to have to walk halfway across the building, not that he didn't need the exercise.

I sniggered quietly, watching Martin waddle beside me. His back stiffened, a sure sign that he had heard, but he did not turn around.

"You know, your weight might also be contributing to high blood pressure. Maybe you ought to take my turn on the treadmill today."

He continued to ignore me.

"Marty," I whined, knowing he hated the abbreviation. "I'm not trying to offend you," Well I was, but I didn't really care. "But you can only hide from the truth for so long, and I'm astounded you can hide from your weight problem at all."

That did it; he turned around and slapped me, moving surprisingly quickly for a man of his bulk.

My cheek stung and I quickly slapped him back, harder.

"How dare you?" He hissed, pushing me to the ground.

I jumped up and punched him in the face, smiling as I felt something break underneath my fist.

Another Whitecoat further down the hall gave an exclamation and began to run towards us, talking into a walkie talkie of some sort. _Probably calling Erasers. _I thought to myself.

My suspicions were confirmed when they began to spill from one of the doorways, long tongues lolling from half-morphed faces.

I ignored them and punched Martin in the stomach, he had been smirking in triumph at the arrival of the Erasers but his expression quickly turned to one of pain. He doubled over and I kicked him in the head.

I didn't feel sorry at all; Martin was an absolute dick. I was about to kick him again when an Eraser grabbed me from behind.

I struggled, and elbowed it in the gut. I was released, but only to be grabbed by two more who pulled my arms behind me, jerking them into an awkward and slightly painful position.

"Take it back to it's cell." The other Whitecoat told the Erasers, sounding more resigned than anything else. He turned and helped Martin off the ground, which would be no easy feat, believe me.

Martin, once he was standing, turned to glare at me, blood dripping from his nose.

"I'm sorry Martin!" I cried sarcastically as the Erasers began to lead me away. "Please forgive me!"

"Shut up." One of the Erasers snarled.

"Would it kill you to be more polite?" I asked but was ignored for, what, the fourth time this morning?

My arms began to ache and I silently contemplated spending the whole day in the dog crate, I didn't know if it was better or worse than the treadmill. Eh, I guess it didn't really matter.

I smirked as I remembered Martin's glaring face, round and doughy, topped with thin, dark hair, blood spewing from his freshly mutilated nose.

As we turned a corner the Eraser on my right jerked my arm painfully for what seemed to be no reason and I turned to glare at him.

Movement further down the hall caught my eye and I watched as a Whitecoat led a tall, dark youth towards us.

He seemed familiar, I had seen the messy dark hair and sharp, olive-skinned face somewhere before, but this person was taller than I remembered, and had more scars.

As they passed us, he looked up from the floor to stare at my face with dark, almost black eyes.

_Fang_, I realised.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I think the word 'FanFiction' is pretty self explanatory. Okay, now I'm laughing because the spell check on my computer is saying that FanFiction isn't a word. **

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**Fang's POV**

_Max? Nah, it couldn't be. But I'm pretty sure it was._

**Max's POV**

It couldn't have been him, well it could've, but it's highly unlikely, I think.

Okay, now I've just confused myself. At least they hadn't shoved me back into the dog crate; instead the Whitecoat just pushed me into the cell. He seemed in a hurry to leave for some reason.

It had been hours since my scuffle with Martin with morning and I was still mulling over the could-be Fang. I had to admit, there was a possibility it was him.

I groaned and wrenched my mind off the tracks it had been following for the last couple of hours.

I stood up and stretched my wings. It wasn't like the Whitecoats to waste a day by not testing me in some form or another, no doubt they would be here soon, escorting me to a room for a 'psychological examination' or some other such nonsense.

Just then, the door opened. _Right on cue,_ I thought to myself.

The Whitecoat who opened the door was not Martin, who must have been getting his nose fixed, he was also flanked by three Erasers, which showed that the security surrounding me had been upped since the little fiasco this morning.

"Hello," I said smiling politely.

The new Whitecoat, who shall be known as Martin II, looked slightly alarmed and quickly gestured for the Erasers to enter.

One Eraser grabbed each of arms and I was unceremoniously dragged from my cell for the second time that day.

We took a different route from the one I had been taking for the past few years and I remained silent as I quickly memorised the many twists and turns of the hallways, and the many doorways my little entourage and I passed through.

At the end of the journey, I was simply shoved into another cell that was much like the last one I had been, only smaller.

When the Erasers released me, I scowled and turned around, "Thank you, oh, so very much." I hissed sarcastically at Martin II.

Unfortunately, he had already left, closing and locking the door behind him.

"So this is what I get for my troubles?" I asked out loud, "A smaller cell?"

"You shouldn't kick up trouble, Max." A quiet voice told me from the far corner, "Next time they'll hurt you."

I turned to see a small girl of around six or so sitting hunched on the floor. Blonde curls hung limply on either side of her sweet face and familiar blue eyes tracked my movements.

I peered at her more closely, waiting for my mind to register why she looked familiar. Suddenly it clicked; "Angel?" I asked incredulously.

She smiled. "That's me."

"Wow, isn't today just a day for meeting old friends." I murmured. First Fang, now Angel. Last time I had seen her she had been so small, so much younger.

"You saw Fang?" She asked eagerly, her voice rising in pitch.

I looked at her in confusion. "What? How did you know?"

Angel sighed, sounding much older than she was. "I can read minds, Max, or have you forgotten that?"

I guess I had. I was still feeling confused and simply stared at the floor for a few moments before regaining my composure, not that I had much to start off with.

Angel looked at me expectantly, her large blue eyes all lit up with excitement. "So you saw him?"

I don't know why she was asking when could read minds, but decided to answer anyway. "Yeah, earlier this morning, in one of the hallways."

I sat down on the floor beside her and she immediately scooted closer, till our legs were touching.

"So, how have you been, all by yourself?" I asked, still staggered by the fact that this was Angel I was talking to.

She smiled. "I've been okay."

That made me smile; at least she hadn't grown up a whiner. "Have you seen any of the others? Nudge? Gazzy?"

She shook her small head. "No, you're the only one."

"Hmm," I swallowed and asked a question I really wanted to know the answers to. "Do you know why the Whitecoats moved me in here with you, sweetie?"

Angel paused for a moment, chewing her bottom lip. "They wanted to see how you would react to being reunited with one of the experiments you used to be close to, and there's an important visitor coming soon and they want us close at hand so that they can show off some of their most successful experiments."

That'd be right, I thought angrily. "Do you know who the visitor is?"

She shook her head again. "The Whitecoat didn't know, he had just been told to prepare."

I pondered this for a moment before asking another question. "Do you know where any of the others are being kept?"

"Gazzy and Nudge are in the East Wing," She told me. "Their rooms are pretty close together and I think Iggy's somewhere in the South Wing but I'm not sure."

"What about Fang?"

"I don't know; none of the Whitecoats ever think about him. That was why I was so excited when I heard you'd seen him."

I sighed. Oh well, at least I was with Angel now.

"Thanks Max." She said quietly, leaning against my arm and closing her eyes.

I let a small smile appear on my lips and stroked her messy blonde curls with my free hand. Her hair and face were in urgent need of a good wash and she had a few small scars on her arms and legs, but apart from that she seemed fine.

The sight of the scars made anger rise up inside me; how the Whitecoats do this to her; an innocent young girl? She was only a child!

Her breathing grew deeper as she drifted off to sleep and my thoughts turned to the mysterious visitor. Who were they and how were they involved with the school? What part did they play in all of this?

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**A/N: Sorry for anyone who's reading this but updates will be slower from now on because today is my last day of summer holidays. I also have two regattas (rowing competitions) on this weekend, so updating will be hard.**

**Also, Thank you to Love is the key to the world, who reviewed; it was much appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I didn't own them last chapter, but I do now! (Shouldn't this be called a claimer?) Anyone who believed those last sentences; you are a fool.**

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**Max's POV**

The answers to some of my questions were found out the very next morning.

The night had been cold and uncomfortable, as had been all my nights had been here at the School, but I guess concrete flooring wasn't actually designed with comfort in mind. Someone should give the people who are running this joint a heads up.

I hadn't been lonely, though; Angel had been there, unfortunately she snored, quite loudly for a person of her age and stature. Seriously, though, she was like a chainsaw.

Anyway, the next morning dawned and Angel and I were dragged from our cell bright and early by two Whitecoats and five Erasers.

I'll admit, I wasn't in the best of moods, and the fact I was being dragged to God knows where, to meet God knows who, wasn't exactly helping to improve it. Neither was the way one of the Erasers holding me kept jerking my arm.

"I'm coming you stupid lump of meat, you don't have to tear my arm off." I hissed.

"Experiment 6," One of the Whitecoats said, apparently referring to me. "If you don't be quiet, that's exactly what will happen."

I snorted, which wasn't very ladylike of me, I know. "Please, as if you would do that to one of 'your most successful experiments'."

He simply narrowed his eyes at me before striding down the hall, gesturing at the Erasers and the other Whitecoat to follow.

I looked down at Angel. "You okay?"

She just nodded, a grim look on her face.

I sighed. If there is a God out there, any God, why me? Why Angel? Why should anyone go through this?

The Erasers holding me pushed me forwards and I bit back a sarcastic retort and walked down the hall.

We walked past white walls and white doorways, with white doors, further down the white hallway, with the white floor and the white ceiling. Come to think of it, there's a bit of a trend occurring.

Everything smelt of antiseptic and other cleaning fluids, the strong scent burnt my nostrils and almost me gag. It was so sterile, more so than an eighty year old man who has worn y-fronts his entire life.

We had been walking for quite a while, I realised, just following the Whitecoats as they strolled along in a seemingly random direction. The walls weren't quite so white here; don't get me wrong, they weren't dirty, just more of a cream colour than pure white. The floor was no longer concrete either; instead there were large, square, white tiles, laid evenly and precisely. The hallway was exactly three tiles across, you have probably realised from my observations that I am extremely bored. I had been trying to memorise our route but had lost track after the first fifteen minutes. It had been extremely windy too, almost as if they were trying to disorientate me.

I noticed Angel nod and realised that she had been reading my thoughts, and the Whitecoats' as well.

I had never been to the wing of the School before, it was more … friendly, for lack of a better word.

"This is a bit better," I called out to the Whitecoats. "Have I finally earned enough points to upgrade my accommodation?"

"I told you to be quiet." One of them hissed, the same one who had spoken to me before.

"That's the problem with life; you just can't control everything." I told him, shaking my head in mock remorse. I saw Angel smirk out of the corner of my eye.

The other Whitecoat pulled on his shoulder, "Come on Bill, just ignore it."

"It?" I cried indignantly. "I do have a gender."

Bill ignored me, as the other fellow had advised him to.

I remained quiet for the rest of the trip, it seemed we had finally reached our destination when Angel and I were ushered into a room where a woman appeared to be waiting for us.

She was slender, I guessed she was about my height but it was hard to tell because she was sitting down, her hair was fair, pulled tightly back from her face. As we entered the room, she stood and gave a small smile.

"This is them?" She asked the Whitecoats in a somewhat haughty tone.

Bill nodded. "Subject 6 and Subject 11, two of our most successful."

The woman's smile broadened considerably and she turned slightly to face Angel and I.

"I'm sure you're both wondering who I am." She said, the sinister smile still on her face.

Well, Angel could read minds, so I doubt she was wondering. I was slightly curious, but this woman didn't have to know that. "No, not really." I lied, trying to sound bored and nonchalant.

A look of surprise flitted across her face and she paused, as if unsure what to say. She swallowed before continuing. "Regardless, I will tell you." She paused again.

Come on lady, I thought, just spit it out.

"I am Marian Janssen, the Director of Itex."

"Itex?" I asked. What the hell is Itex?

"Yes," She confirmed, somewhat smugly I might add. "The company that runs the School, amongst other facilities."

I glanced at Angel, trying not to let my shock show. She was looking quite worried, her pale face grim.

"You mean there are other places like this?" I asked. This was a terrifying new concept; I had always thought the School was a sort of stand-alone research station or something.

"Oh, yes," The Director laughed. "The School is just a small part of the whole. There are many more branches of Itex all around the world.

My dread bubbled over, consuming me entirely. I could do nothing but stare at this evil woman, the one who was responsible for all of this, my mouth hanging open.

"But enough about me, Max. I want to hear all about you, Subject 11 as well. What exactly can you do? What makes you two so special? What makes you worth keeping?"

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**A/N: So it turned out that I could update faster than I thought. Anyway, thankyou to; Love is the key to the world, Demon-Kitty-Chan, lol (no, I am not laughing, someone put that as their name), chiibi-sarus, dusk3ttex01 and Xuut, (I think that Martin II is a nice name as well, it would definitely suit a fish) who all reviewed last chapter. I will treasure your reviews for ever and ever.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I am disclaiming anything you recognise.**

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**MAX POV**

I couldn't help it, I spat in her face. Why were we worth keeping? It's as if we're animals or an old piece of furniture to her, something easily discarded.

I looked at the mask of shock that covered her face. She blinked and slowly reached up to wipe my spit from the area around her left eye.

"Why are we worth keeping?" I repeated sardonically, "Well, I thought that would have been obvious just looking at us."

"You show a lack of respect for people of a higher status than you." The Director told me, angry and yet still shocked.

"Really? I don't see anyone here worth respecting," My tone was icy, people of a higher status than me? Pah! "Except for Angel of course." I looked down at her but she was watching the Director's pale face intently.

The Director's eyes narrowed before she turned to face the Whitecoats. It seems she had decided to ignore me, in fact, most people ignore me. I wonder what this says about my communication skills.

Angel gave a slight giggle. _I think it says more about theirs._ Her voice rang in my head. I looked at her in shock but now was not really the time to talk about this sort of thing.

The Director's back had stiffened when she heard Angel laugh but she was resolutely ignoring us. "Do these subjects have any special abilities?" She asked Bill, her voice frosty. In truth, he looked a little embarrassed.

I raised my eyebrows at her question. "You mean besides the ability to fly?" She ignored me but I continued anyway. "I think I've already shown you that I'm quite a talented spitter."

At this she turned around, her formally dull eyes blazing with anger. "It is almost a shame to me that you are my daughter." She hissed.

I felt my mouth drop open. "What?" I managed to choke out, my eyes feeling the size of dinner plates.

A cool smile graced the Director's, my mother's, features. "I'm your mother Max."

I couldn't reply to that, how could she be my mother? Sure we had the same blonde hair but I'm pretty sure that the resemblance ended there.

"Great, of all the women on the Earth, I get stuck with you." I told her.

Her smile grew a bit strained but she managed to keep it in place. Angel was looking at me shock. Is it true? I thought.

She nodded. _She really is your mother, Max._

I exhaled loudly, somewhat desperately. All these years I had dreamt of finding my mum, a nice lady who would care for me and love me regardless of the fact that I have wings. I had even seen Jeb, the Whitecoat who tried to rescue us, as a father at one point.

I could hear the Director speaking and quickly tuned in, catching the end of her sentence.

"…transported to Germany for further testing." Was she talking about me and Angel? Germany? I was still in shock, viewing the world through a veil of confusion.

One of the Whitecoats, not Bill, the other one, nodded. "We will have them prepared immediately."

The Director, mother dearest, nodded smugly. "Do you have any other similar subjects?"

Bill nodded. "Three males and another female, of varying ages and varying success."

The Director nodded again. "Have them brought here."

"To this room?" Bill asked, sounding surprised.

Marian looked at him as if he was mentally incompetent, which no doubt he was. "Yes, to this room." She spoke slowly, clearly.

Bill flushed and quickly motioned for the Erasers to do as she had asked.

So, after all these years, our group, family, if you will, would finally be reunited. I'll admit, it wasn't under the best of circumstances but I would take it.

The Director was watching Angel and I closely and I fought to hide my excitement, trying my best to seem unaffected.

The Erasers all arrived separately, all with a 'subject' in tow.

Nudge was first, the same as ever but taller, thinner, bearing new scars. She looked angry, her muscles tensed beneath her brown skin but when she saw me and Angel standing in the corner, her chocolate eyes lit up and she opened her mouth. Remembering the tirade of talk that used to prelude, I quickly caught her eye and shook my head ever so slightly.

Hurt flashed in her eyes and then understanding as she saw the Director.

As this was happening, another Eraser roughly leading Iggy walked through the single door. Gazzy followed close behind, being restrained by a disgruntled looking Eraser.

They all remained silent, still, defiance flashing in their eyes. I memorised their faces, noting the slight changes that had come with age. They were all taller, especially Iggy who must be over six foot. Gazzy still bore resemblance to his sister, the same blonde hair, vivid blue eyes. Nudge's hair seemed to have become more uncontrollable, the dark curls sticking out from her head in all directions. Iggy didn't react to be being in the same room as us, simply looking confused but the Gasman's eyes had lit up, just like Nudge's, when he saw us. I would have smiled if it were not for the Director watching us like a hawk.

But I couldn't help but wonder where Fang was. Had that been him in the hallway? How had he changed? How would he react to seeing us all again?

Two Erasers walked through the door, leading something between them. That something was tall, thin and dark haired. That something was Fang.

He looked up as he entered the room, anger and defiance flashing in his dark eyes as he saw the Whitecoats standing either side of the Director, the woman who called herself my mother.

Fang's eyes flickered around the rest of the room, taking in the number of Erasers, the single door and the inoffensive interior decorating. He saw the others and his dark eyes widened slightly and he blinked, showing extreme surprise. He looked at them all in turn, slight happiness showing on his face. Then he turned to me.

I looked back at him and saw nothing; no joy at seeing me again, not even surprise. His face was utterly blank.

**FANG POV**

It was her; Max. The one and only.

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**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, also, I would like to add that I do not promote or condone spitting in anyway; it is a filthy habit. Thankyou to anyone who reviewed last chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Meh**

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**MAX POV**

My eyes flickered away, over to where the Director was standing, I was unable to meet Fang's empty gaze for any longer.

What had I expected, tears of joy? Him to cry my name in jubilation? That had never been his style and I highly doubt that had changed.

He was still watching me, but I forced myself to ignore him and focused on what the Director, my mother, was saying.

"These are all of them?" She asked Bill.

He nodded in response, "Subjects six through eleven."

"Prepare them all for transport."

"All of them?" Bill asked, incredulously.

"Yes, all of them." Her tone was icy. "They will be transported to Germany for more extensive testing. The plane will be leaving in four hours, have the subjects fully prepared and caged before then." With that, she swept out of the room.

You could literally feel the shock hanging in the room, even Fang and the Whitecoats looked surprised. Nudges mouth was hanging right open, exposing two rows of strangely white teeth that contrasted sharply with her dark skin.

I narrowed my eyes at Bill and the other Whitecoat, they obviously hadn't been expecting this to happen, so what had they expected?

_They thought she was just going to be looking at you and me, Max. _ Angel's sweet voice rang clearly through my head. _They knew there was a possibility we might be taken to Germany but they didn't think that she would want to take the others as well._

What would have happened to us if the Director didn't want to 'transport' us? I thought back, managing to keep my thoughts calm for Angel's sake.

_We would have been terminated._ She replied, her mental voice quiet, subdued.

And the others? I made myself keep asking her the questions that needed answers, trying to ignore the effect they had on her.

_They would have died too._

I felt anger rush up inside me, trying to take over, trying to control me. I pushed it back down, for Angel's sake; I had to stay strong, focused. We would find a way out of this, we had to.

The Erasers stepped forwards and grabbed us, two per bird-kid. We were dragged unceremoniously out the door and down yet another unfamiliar hallway. Seriously, this place was like a rabbit warren; all twists and turns, not that I would know what one is like, never having been outside the school.

"What is it with you and the dragging?" I growled at the Erasers holding me.

They snarled back and tightened their grip; their claw-like finger nails digging into the soft flesh of my upper arms.

I looked around at my fellow prisoners. Angel looked scared but was trying not to show it, Iggy looked confused, as if he wasn't sure where abouts he was. Come to think of it, he probably didn't, being blind and all. Nudge was steely eyed; she was glaring at the Erasers, her jaw clenched. Last of all, Fang; he was simply walking, his head slightly bowed, eyes on the floor. He looked much the same as he had last time I had seen him, and, just like in that chance encounter in the corridor, his eyes flickered up to meet mine.

I looked away quickly, wondering why it was impossible for me to meet his gaze.

We had been good friends once, in the time before we had been separated. I guess I had taken those times for granted, thinking that things couldn't possibly get any worse. Well, I had been wrong and now it seemed that time had changed both Fang and I, making us like awkward strangers.

It was only a short walk to where ever we were going it seemed, as we had only been walking a short while when the Erasers stopped and pushed us into an empty room, closing and locking the door behind them.

I scowled at the door after they left, trying to mentally send them my thoughts of hate and violence. Predictably, it didn't work and after a while I turned to survey the rest of the room.

Basically it was a standard room at the school; concrete walls and floor, painted white, of course, no furniture or anything else that would make it even slightly more comfortable.

However, there was one small difference; a single window, quite small in size was located high up on one of the walls, close to the ceiling. A small amount of natural lighting shone through between the heavy metal bars, illuminating a patch of the concrete floor.

I gasped and ran towards it, not trying to hide the joy and surprise I was feeling. You're probably sitting there sarcastically thinking something along the lines of 'Oh my God, a window', but trust me, if you hadn't seen the sky in around two years, you would be excited too.

Angel, Nudge, the Gasman and Fang all watched as I ran. Iggy just looked in my general direction.

"What is it Max?" Angel asked.

"A window," I replied, I jumped up and grabbed the bars, pulling myself up awkwardly until I could see outside. "I can see the sky."

It was grey and overcast outside, no sun at all showing through the thick mass of clouds, but I didn't care, in fact, I thought it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen, as corny and clichéd as that sounds.

"Really?" Angel asked, her excitement clear in her voice. "What's it like out there?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" I asked as I let go of the bars and slid to the floor. I scooped her up in my arms, almost wincing at how light she was, and lifted her until she could see out the window.

Her eyes widened and then she smiled, her happiness lighting up her entire face. She looked down at me and I couldn't help but smile back.

"It's beautiful Max." She told me. "Beautiful."

"Can I have a look too?" A boy's voice asked from behind me.

I turned in shock, almost dropping Angel in the process.

It was Gazzy who had spoken, it was the first time I had heard him speak in years and the sound of his voice bought memories rushing back, not all of them good.

I smiled down at him. "Sure."

Placing Angel on the ground, I walked towards him, subconsciously comparing his appearance now to what he had looked last time I had seen him.

He too, was unhealthily light but his smile upon seeing outside was just as brilliant as his sister's had been.

After that, Nudge wanted a look as well. Lifting her up to the window was fairly awkward because she was only about five inches shorter than I was, but it was worth it just to see the look on her face.

After I put her down, I walked away from the window, looking at the members of my reunited family. Angel and Gazzy were sitting close together, talking quietly. Nudge walked over and joined them, sitting down beside Angel on the hard floor.

Iggy, however, was looking dejected, standing in a corner. He couldn't see out the window, I realised, and mentally cursed myself for forgetting his blindness.

I walked over to him and he lifted his head at the sound of my footsteps.

"Max?" He asked uncertainly. His voice was a lot deeper than I remembered.

"Yeah," I hesitated. "It's beautiful out there, Ig. The clouds are dappled all these different shades of grey and it's like a whole other world."

He smiled faintly and I was about to continue when another male voice, the one that belonged to Fang, cut through the room.

"There's a plane out there."

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**A/N: Well there you go, chapter five. I'm not exactly happy with the way it turned out but I'm not sure why. I think it's a bit too soppy. Anyway, thankyou to dusk3ttex01, Love is the key to the world and WereRanga who reviewed the last chapter, your thoughts were appreciated. To everyone else, review and tell me what you think. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't know why I even bother writing these, but anyway, guess what? I don't own the characters, or do I? No, no I don't.**

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**MAX POV**

I looked over towards the window, sure enough, Fang was clinging to the bars in much the same way I had been moments before. I hadn't even noticed him walk over there.

I tried to ignore the way his voice made me feel and crossed the room to join him at the window. So what if it was the first time I had heard him speak in years? So what if we used to be best friends? There were more important things I had to worry about right now.

I stood next to him. "What type of plane?"

He looked down at me, his face as blank as I had expected.

"It's small, black." He seemed to be keeping his sentences to a minimum.

"It must be the one that horrible woman was talking about." Nudge said. "Do you really think that we're going to Germany? I don't really want to, not that I want to stay here but still. Why are we going anyway? What did she mean by 'extensive testing'? Is it going to be anything like the tests they do here?"

"I don't know, Nudge." I told her, hoping my short answer would block her tide of words.

Fang was still looking at me. "Can I have a look?" I asked.

He nodded and released his grip on the bars, dropping gracefully to the floor.

I jumped up and grabbed the bars myself, trying unsuccessfully to mirror Fang's grace.

When I had looked outside before, I had only looked at the sky, preoccupied with its beauty, you could say. However, beneath the sky was a runway, the tarmac glistening with moisture, sitting on that tarmac was a sleek black jet.

As I watched, Erasers walked around the side of the plane and opened a door in the side, revealing the cargo hold. They drew what looked like large, metal cages out of the hold and disappeared from sight once more. I shuddered, hoping that those cages were not for us.

"What is it?" Iggy asked, sounding worried.

"Nothing," I lied, quite badly I might add, dropping to the floor again. "There's just a plane out there, like Fang said."

Fang looked at me, his dark eyes unreadable before taking my place at the window.

"Don't lie to me, Max. What else is going on?"

I sighed, looking at the younger one's faces. "There's Erasers out there, they have cages."

My reply was met with silence until, "They're coming towards the buildings." Fang informed us.

"Do they have the cages?"

"Yeah."

I sighed. Why can't anything go right for me? I'm finally reunited with my sort-of-family and we are about to be transported to Germany to be tested 'extensively' by some crazy woman who says she's my mother. Really, what had I done to deserve this?

Okay, so maybe I broke Martin's nose a couple of days ago, but, hey, he had deserved it.

"Max?" Angel asked. "Are you okay?"

Great, I had forgotten about her mind reading ability. A six year old had just been present to my pity party where I pondered our impending doom.

"I'm fine, honey." I told her, plastering a fake smile on my face. "Just a little stressed. If that wasn't an understatement, then I didn't know what was, but I had to stay strong, focused.

"Is there anything else going on out there?" I asked Fang, who was still looking out the window, his dark hair moving in the slight breeze.

He shook his head. "It's completely deserted."

I sighed and sat down on the cold floor. The happy, somewhat content mood of this morning had faded quickly, leaving a sense of inevitability in its wake.

Fang too, sunk to the ground; sitting just below the window and resting his back and head against the wall.

Angel crawled over to me and rested her head against my shoulder, just as she had last night. Gazzy and Nudge followed; sitting close, Iggy sat down nearby, quiet.

"What are we going to do?" Iggy asked after a few minutes.

I hesitated, I didn't have a plan and yet I had to try and make it sound like I did.

While I was procrastinating, Fang spoke up. "We'll get out of here somehow."

I stared at him in shock, my eyebrows raised. He looked away, a hint of embarrassment showing in his eyes.

I had always been the leader, back before we had all been separated, back when Jeb had been alive. Everyone else had always looked to me for guidance; I was the strong one, the person who always had a plan and always kept the others safe, well, as safe as I could.

Fang had preferred to sort of fade into the background, don't get me wrong, he was a part of our 'family' but he wasn't one to draw attention to himself, like he just did.

I wasn't angry, more like strangely relieved. It felt good that someone was watching over me, sort of.

"Yeah, we'll find a way." I told Iggy, infusing my voice with confidence and looking away from Fang, who appeared to have noticed something interesting on the floor.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes longer. It felt sort of weird to have company; I had grown used to being on my own, sadly, but I was happy, even if I did feel slightly awkward.

Things were especially awkward with Fang; every now and then, I would glance up and see him watching me intently with his dark eyes. We would just stare at each other until one of us, usually me, would look away.

I had no clue what he was thinking. Was he happy to see me or not? He seemed happy enough to see the others.

I was startled out of my musings, when I heard a metallic grating that was the sound of the deadbolt on the door being unfastened.

Moments later, it swung inwards, revealing Erasers holding, lo and behold, three large metal cages.

If anything, this was a downgrade from the dog crates; not only were these cages even more uncomfortable looking than the crates but it seemed as if we were expected to double up and go two-to-a-cage, there being only three cages and six bird-kids.

"You have got to be kidding me." I told the nearest Eraser as another relocked the door.

He shook his head and bared his teeth in the Eraser version of a grin.

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**A/N: Chapter six, once again, I'm not really happy with the way it turned out but what can you do? Anyway, review and tell me what you think. Thank you to santaclausrules18, Sarra411, Clouded Horizon and sparkleglitz01 who all reviewed chapter five and also to everyone else who has reviewed the other chapters. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't know why I bother writing these, really, what is the point?**

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**FANG POV**

My extremely low opinion of the 'people' who run this place just got lower. I mean, cages?

What was even worse was the fact that there were only three of them; either someone was really bad at maths or we were going to be sharing.

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**MAX POV**

I swear that the Eraser's 'smile' was the creepiest thing that I have ever seen, and I have seen some pretty creepy things during my time.

"I'm not getting in one of those." I told him, tilting my chin slightly upwards.

He didn't respond, at least not with words, simply grabbing my arms and pushing me towards the nearest cage.

"I don't think so." I growled, bringing up one of my feet and slamming it backwards into his shin.

He gave a grunt of pain and his hold on my arms slackened. I spun around and punched him in the jaw, sneaking a look at the others as I did so.

Nudge, Gazzy and Angel all looked frightened, Iggy looked confused and Fang was just watching on silently, his face unreadable.

The Erasers took advantage of my momentary distraction and one punched me in the face, his fist effectively breaking my nose. Another pushed me to the ground and I winced as the back of head cracked against the concrete.

From there, I was half carried, half dragged over to the cage and unceremoniously shoved inside. The Eraser sneered at me as he shut the door.

I ignored him and shifted slightly, the movement sending pain lancing through my head and blood flowing down my face and onto my shirt. I bit back a groan and watched on as the others were given similar treatment.

Angel and Gazzy were pretty much thrown into the smallest cage and the door was locked behind them. The Erasers took advantage of Iggy's blindness and pretty soon he was in a cage as well. Nudge put up a bit more of a fight, kicking one Eraser in the crotch, but she ended up caged like the rest of us.

I felt terrible; I should have been able to do something. There were only five Erasers; it should have been easy, especially with the six of us.

Fang was the last and it looked like he would be sharing with me. Great, as if things weren't already bad enough, I was to be stuck in a cage with Fang, surrounded by awkwardness all the way to fricken Germany.

He put up a pretty good fight, landing a few punches but there were five of them and only one of him, the odds clearly in their favour. Eventually Fang was overpowered and joined me in the uncomfortable, metal cage. The sound of the lock snapping shut was almost ominous, as if our fate had just been sealed.

I scooted as far away from Fang as possible; he had just stood there as the rest of us were beaten and caged, this was not something to be easily forgiven. I was not just going to act like we were friends.

I pinched the end of nose closed in an effort to stop the flow of blood and watched as the Erasers carried the cage containing Nudge and Iggy out of the door.

They returned shortly after and picked up the cage carrying Angel and the Gasman. She looked out through the bars at me as they were carried away, her large, blue eyes shining with worry, fear and unshed tears.

I looked away, unable to look at her pleading face any longer. Fang was silent beside me, but that was no real surprise. I couldn't help but feel irritated with him, though. Why hadn't he done anything? Did he even care anymore?

I could see him staring at me out of the corner of my eye but continued ignoring him, even when the Erasers came back and picked up our cage, causing our legs to jolt against each others.

The swinging movement of the Eraser's walk sent waves of pain rippling through my skull and I silently cursed pretty much everyone and everything.

We were carried through more white-painted corridors and, eventually, we went through a door that led to the runway.

It was cold outside, a slight wind whipping my hair into my face and probably into Fang's as well. A mist-like rain was falling and I lifted my face skyward, smiling ever so slightly as it was coated in moisture. I inhaled deeply, trying to take everything in during this brief moment of almost-freedom.

My smile faded, however, when we reached the plane. My 'mother' was waiting for us and watched on as the cage containing Fang and I was lifted into the cargo hold of the jet. I glared out at her balefully, wishing that looks actually could kill. It would solve a lot of my problems.

One of the Erasers started to climb into the hold but was stopped almost immediately.

"You are not needed," The Director's voice cut through the rain-filled air, sharp and emotionless. "The subjects have been caged and guards are not required. You may return to the building."

They nodded and our cage was shoved further into the hold before the door was literally slammed in our faces.

The last thing I saw was the Director; she had been watching me, her gaze cold and clinical. The good news is that I managed to give her the finger before the door closed.

Sighing, I tried to turn around in the cage without touching Fang. I wasn't very successful and our arms ended getting tangled at one point but I refused to acknowledge him or the throbbing pain in my head.

There was a light on one of the walls and it cast a dim glow over the other cages. Everyone looked miserable, and they had a right to. If you were in a cage, you wouldn't exactly be jolly either.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked, quickly giving them all a once over with my eyes, Fang excluded.

A received a chorus of yes's and a somewhat longer response from Nudge.

I sighed again, this time in relief and turned my attention to our surroundings. It was pretty cramped in here and the door we had come in through seemed to be the only exit. The hold was empty except for us and the thin layer of dust that was coating the floor.

"Are you okay?"

I gave a start at hearing the usually-silent shape next to me speak. Turning to face him, I fixed a glare on Fang's face.

He just looked back, unaffected by the anger I was directing at him.

I bit back the sarcastic retort I had been about to make, realising its uselessness.

"I'm fine. Just fine." My voice was cold, frosty, but I didn't care. He could have helped me fight if he had wanted to, but no.

"Your nose is bleeding."

It was true. I had given up pinching the end closed and a steady stream of blood had been trickling down my face ever since.

"Really?" I injected false surprise into my voice. "I hadn't noticed."

He ignored me. "I think it's broken."

"You know what Fang? That's probably the least of our problems right now, and if you don't like seeing me injured then maybe you should've helped me fight in the first place instead of just standing there!" My voice had gotten steadily louder and I ended up yelling the last few words.

Everyone stared at me in shock, except Fang; his eyes just widened fractionally.

I turned away, staring at the wall and hugging my knees to my chest. Anger was still burning through me and I just couldn't deal with the shocked stares of the other's right now. My anger wasn't helped by the constant pain in my nose and head either.

I rested my forehead against the tops of my knees and tried to block everything around me; the movement of the plane, Fang's close proximity. My fist clenched subconsciously

A hand touched my shoulder gently and I tensed.

I was about to look up when the pain in my skull exploded.

**...................................................Yet another line break………………………………………………..**

**A/N: Ha, I have defeated you writer's block. Take that!**

**Anyway, there's chapter seven. I'm sure you can all guess what the head explosion means so it's not really much of a cliff hanger. **

**Goldenrose37, I'm sorry that the part in Fang's POV wasn't very long but I just can't write very well in his point of view.**

**Clouded Horizon, I have increased the chapter length for you, I hope you like it.**

**Sarra Elizabeth, I hope you have not died a suspenseful death and are alive and reading this. **

**Thank you to santaclausrules18, dusk3ttex01, AvanJogiaLuver, maxride333 and my friend Maddie, as well, who all reviewed the last chapter.**

**To everyone else, thankyou for reading. I hope you enjoyed it, please review and tell me what you think.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: If you haven't gotten the idea by now just go away and don't come back. No I didn't mean that, please, forgive me! Okay, these things just keep getting weirder and weirder.**

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**MAX POV**

It was horrible, terrible; the worst pain I've ever felt.

My eyes were scrunched firmly shut, fire dancing along the back of my eyelids. My head wasn't exploding; it was slowly being split into two halves, slowly being prised open. I tried desperately to hold it together with my hands.

In the background I could hear screaming. It was me.

**...............................................................................................................................**

**FANG POV**

I had reached out and touched Max's shoulder. To apologise? To comfort her? I don't know.

The muscles in her shoulder tensed and she lifted her head off her knees slightly, about to look up.

Then she screamed, her pale hands coming up to clutch at her head, the long fingers tangling in her brown-blonde hair.

I pulled her towards me, somehow managing to turn her around so that we were face to face. Tears made tracks down her face, leaking out of her tightly closed eyes.

I was momentarily stunned; this was the first time I had ever seen Maximum Ride cry.

"Max? Fang, what's wrong with her?" Angel's frightened voice cut through my surprise, drawing me back to bleak reality.

I looked up at her helplessly as Max continued screaming in my arms. "I don't know." I sounded frantic, scared.

Fear was plain on the faces of the others as well. All of them were pale, eyes wide.

Iggy had his hands over his ears. "Make her stop." He yelled, Max's screams too much for his sensitive ears.

She began thrashing in my arms, hands still clawing at her head. I flinched as her nails raked across her cheek, drawing blood. "I don't know how!" I yelled back, trying desperately to restrain her.

"Max!" Gazzy yelled, tears welling up in his blue eyes. "Fang, do something."

"I can't. I don't know how to help her!"

"You have to something Fang, anything." Nudge pleaded with me.

I wasn't used to be depended on, even before we had been separated they had always looked to Max, never to me.

She shuddered and I pulled her closer. Moments later, her screams stopped and she lay still.

I looked down at her, fervently hoping that the worst hadn't happened.

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**MAX POV**

I could see images flashing in front of my eyes, people talking, an explosion, a horizon of dead trees, their branches blackened and burnt. Someone was holding me, their arms around my waist but that sensation was dim, somehow unimportant.

Another flash of pain came, quickly, but worse than before. There was a voice too. I strained my ears, desperate to hear what it was saying.

'_Nudge can help you. She will help you escape.'_

Then, the pain was gone. I floated in blackness, deprived of all my senses, a blind and deaf mute.

Slowly, I became aware of voices, familiar voices.

"Fang," That was Iggy, his voice quiet. "Is she still alive?"

"I-I don't know."

I opened my eyes, wincing at the fluorescent light on the wall that suddenly seemed too bright.

"She's waking up." Angel sounded relieved and also like she had been crying.

I opened my eyes a little further, and then flinched backwards as I saw Fang's dark eyes directly above me.

His face was pale and he looked stressed, his eyes slightly frantic. He quickly removed his arms from around my waist as I sat up.

"Max! Are you okay? What happened before? All of a sudden you started screaming and clawing at your head and we were all freaking out. Fang was trying to stop you hurting yourself but you were thrashing around and then you went all still and we thought you were dead, Max."

"Be quiet, Nudge." Iggy told her gently.

I looked up to see everyone's eyes fixed on me, filled with concern and a slight curiosity as they wondered what had happened.

"I'm fine," I told them. "Really, I'll be okay."

They got the message and stopped staring at me, going back to sitting quietly and pondering our impending demise, occasionally sending worried glances my way. I rubbed my temples, a slight headache remaining, but I didn't know if that was from the brain explosion or when I hit my head on the floor.

Something wet trickled down my face and I distractedly wiped it off, still wondering what had happened moments before. Looking down at my hand, however, I realised it was blood and I gently touched my face, searching for the wound.

"You scratched your face when you were screaming."

I looked up at Fang who stared back at me curiously.

"What happened before Max?" He asked, searching my face for answers with his dark eyes. His voice was low, as if he knew that I wouldn't want the others to hear this conversation.

"I don't know." I answered him truthfully, my voice equally quiet. I stared back at him, daring him to contradict me.

"Are-" He paused, as if unsure whether to continue. "Are you okay now?"

"Do you even care?" I asked icily.

I thought I saw hurt flash in his dark eyes but it was instantly smothered, his face turning neutral once more.

He looked down at the floor of the cage. "I do care." He said softly.

I sighed. "I'm fine, just like I told the others."

He looked back up at me. "Don't lie to me, Max. Minutes ago you were screaming, clawing at your own face, you can't be 'fine'."

I narrowed my eyes at him, thinking that he was mocking me but there was no sign of malice in his face. "I don't know what happened, Fang." I told him once more, gritting my teeth. "One moment I was angry and the next it felt like my head was being torn in two. The pain is gone now and I am fine." I practically spat the last three words at him.

Still no emotion showed in his face. "Are you sure?"

Ugh! I can't believe him, acting all concerned. "I'm fine. There was pain, then the voice and then nothing. Okay Fang? Nothing."

It didn't look like he was listening. "Voice?" He asked, his voice sounding uncertain.

"Yeah, a Voice." I was about to continue but then realised how crazy I sounded. "A voice?"

Fang was looking slightly concerned now. "Yeah, that's what you said."

I was distracted now, though, thinking about that voice. I hadn't been able to tell whether it was male or female and the tone had been devoid of any emotion except perhaps a hint of urgency. What had it said? Something about escape, something about Nudge. "Nudge" I murmured out loud.

"Yeah?" She asked from the cage she was sharing with Iggy, neither of them looking particularly comfortable.

"It said you could help," I was talking more to myself than I was to her, trying to figure out exactly what the voice had told me. "That you could help us escape."

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**A/N: I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, my face exploded.**

**Well, not really, but anyway, it hasn't turned out to be my favourite chapter but there's not much I can do about that.**

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to my friend Maddie, who turned 15 today. Happy Birthday Maddie!**

**I would also like to thank sparkleglitz01, Sarra Elizabeth, Love is the key to the world, goldykat, darkmoon, soccerislife14, FreeSpirit239, maxride333, Olympiangirl, santaclausrules18, NoZombieIsSafeFromChicagoTed, Clouded Horizon and dusk3ttex01,who all reviewed the last chapter. Clouded Horizon, I have involved the flock more but it's not quite as long as last chapter, sorry. Love is the key to the world and dusk3ttex, you have reviewed nearly every chapter so thank you extremely much.**

**For everyone else, thank you for reading, please review and tell me what you think.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Duh**

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**MAX POV**

There was a short silence after that announcement, in hindsight, it did sound pretty crazy. How could Nudge help us? I couldn't think of a single way that we could escape, as far as I could see, there was no way to escape.

The silence grew in weight and I flicked my eyes up to Nudge's face. She looked about as confused as I felt. Her mouth opened and I braced myself against the ocean of words I knew this action preluded.

"How can I help? Who told you that I could? I mean, I'm stuck in a cage too." At this point, she reached out and grabbed the bars at the front of her cage, shaking them slightly. "I don't have any special powers, I can't read minds like Angel, I can't stay really quiet like Fang can, I can't take care of everyone like you can, I can't hear things as good as Iggy. How am I supposed to help us escape? I can't do anything." I could hear the frustration in her voice; she was angry at herself, angry because she didn't think that she could do anything that would help us.

"I don't know how you can help us, Nudge. The voice in my head only told me that you _would_ help us escape, not how you would do it."

"But Max," She looked up at me, still holding onto the bars of the cage. "I don't think I can help."

I didn't know what to say and looked away from her pleading face. She, too, looked away, disappointed and dejected, and leaned against the wall of the cage, pulling her knees up to her stomach.

Guilt swirled in my stomach and I closed my eyes, sighing. It was cold in the cargo hold and the metal floor of the cage was wet from the rain before. I wrapped my arms around my waist and opened my eyes again, bringing myself back from my momentary escape from reality.

A sense of hopelessness hung in the air, it was as if we had been given hope and then it had been cruelly snatched away. Actually, that was exactly what had happened.

My fists had clenched involuntarily and I slowly opened them, looking across at Fang as I did so.

He looked back, his eyebrows drawn together as if he was confused.

"So, a voice told you that Nudge would help us?" He asked, speaking slowly.

Irritation flared once again, "I am well aware of how crazy that sounds."

He looked up from the floor of the cage. "No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just wondering if there actually is a way Nudge can help us."

I raised my eyebrows in confusion. By now, Nudge and Iggy were listening to Fang as well.

He swallowed, "If Angel can read minds, who's to say that Nudge doesn't have some power that she doesn't know about that could help us?"

I stared at him thoughtfully. He had a point; Nudge could have a way of helping and just not know about it, but it wasn't doing us much good if we didn't know what it was or how to use it.

"Fang," Nudge's voice rung through the hold. "I told you before that I don't have a way to help." She had once more grabbed the bars of her cage and was holding them so tight that her knuckles were white against the brown skin of the rest of her hands. "Whitecoats have been doing tests for years, nothing has shown up. I'm sure that if I had a power, they would have found out about it by now." She sounded angry, and a lot older than she actually was.

When Fang didn't reply, she shook the bars angrily, obviously wanting to take her anger out on something.

However, instead of just remaining still, like bars on cages usually do when someone tries to shake them, there was a horrible creaking noise; the sound of metal bending and breaking, and the bars tore away from the floor and roof of the cage, coming off in Nudge's hands.

We all stared at her in shock, even Fang's eyes were hanging out of his head. Metaphorically, of course.

She looked pretty surprised herself, just staring at the bars in her hands, the newly jagged edges gleaming in the dim light, then at the considerably sized hole in the side of her cage. Her gaze kept switching between the two, getting faster and faster.

I stared on in amazement and slight confusion myself for a few more seconds before laughing. Fang tensed next to me, then relaxed as he realised I was laughing and not choking or slowly being robbed of air some other way. He looked at me and smiled, showing surprisingly white teeth.

"What's happening?" Iggy was confused. "What was that sound before? Are you laughing?' His tone was incredulous. It just made me laugh harder.

Nudge was the one who answered, still staring at the damage she had caused to the cage. "I think- I think I just pulled the bars off our cage."

By now I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my face for the second time today. Fang was grinning like an idiot beside me and Angel and Gazzy were giggling, smiles lighting up their similar features.

"You did what?" Iggy sounded like Nudge had just announced she was marrying a monkey and going to live on the moon.

"I ripped the bars off our cage," Nudge told him, sounding more confidant than she had before. "We could climb out the hole and escape!" She looked up at me triumphantly, smiling. Iggy, however, still looked confused.

I smiled back at her, still laughing slightly. Nudge opened her hands to drop the severed bars but they stayed connected to her skin. She stopped smiling and looked at them in puzzlement. I stopped laughing and Fang's smile faded as she shook her hand and the bars remained where they were, as if her hands were magnetised or something.

"I think you're magnetic." I told her, voicing my previous thought.

She looked down at her hands, then back up at me. "Magnetic?"

Obviously this whole ripping-the-bars-off-cage thing had affected her ability to speak.

"Yeah, metal sticks to you."

"Is there a way to turn it off or do I have to walk around for the rest of my life with metal stuff stuck to me? I think that would make a lot of stuff hard to do."

"You don't want to turn it off," I told her hurriedly. "At least not yet; you have to rip the bars off our cages too."

"Oh yeah." She smiled and crawled out of her cage, the bars still stuck to her hands.

"Wait," That was Iggy. "I still don't know what's going on."

"I can show you in your mind if you want." Angel offered. I'll admit I was slightly shocked; I knew she could read minds but showing people stuff that had already happened, even blind people? That was all new.

Iggy's face wrinkled in confusion, I looked over at Angel and her face was crumpled too, as if she was concentrating. Seconds later, Iggy's face cleared and he smiled.

"We can actually escape?" He asked, almost refusing to believe that it was true. I didn't blame him; the last time we had hope to escape the School our plans had been foiled and our hopes thrown back in our faces. I was about to reassure him that, yes, we were going to escape but was interrupted.

"Yep," Gazzy's excitement showed in his voice. "We're finally gonna get out of here."

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**A/N: So, this story is finally coming to a close. The next chapter will probably be the last.**

**This chapter is dedicated to goldenrose37 who gave me the idea of Nudge using her metal ability to help the flock escape. A few of you actually figured it out though, I hope this story isn't getting too predictable.**

**I would also like to thank sparkleglitz01, santaclausrules18, maxride333, Sarra Elizabeth, my friend Maddie whose pen name is Names Are So Hard To Think Of and Fuzzylogic, who all reviewed the last chapter.**

**To everyone, thank you for reading, please review; tell what you think and whatnot.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I would've thought this was obvious by now**

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**MAX POV**

Nudge stood in front of the cage she had been contained in moments before and reached back inside, gently pulling on Iggy's arm to help him out of the cage. He cautiously crawled out, wincing as his knee came into contact with the sharp edge of the metal stub where one of the bars had been connected to the floor of the cage. Once he was fully out, he stretched, reaching his pale arms up to the roof of the cargo hold, a smile on his face.

Nudge turned towards the cage housing Fang and I and bent down, wrapping her fingers around two of the bars. She had some difficulty with this as she hadn't figured out how to drop the other bars yet but she managed somehow.

Her face twisted with concentration as she yanked at the bars. They gave way with a horrible metallic screech that was agony to my sensitive ears.

I crawled out of the resulting hole and Fang followed. I stood up straight for what felt like the first time in days, wincing as my joints popped.

Nudge didn't waste any time and soon Angel and Gazzy joined us outside of the cages.

I hugged Nudge, then Angel and Gazzy.

"What are we gonna do now, Max? Where are we gonna go?" Gazzy asked, blue eyes dancing with excitement.

I hesitated, not quite sure myself, then smiled as I remembered something from before we had been separated. "We'll go to the house Jeb told us about; the one shaped like an 'E', up in the mountains. It should be safe there." I told them confidently, tilting my chin slightly upwards. It was a split second decision, but they didn't have to know that.

The younger ones and Iggy smiled back at me but I think Fang could see through my confident façade.

As Angel and Nudge walked away from me, he silently walked over.

"How are we going to find the house?" He wasn't trying to criticize me, I don't think, he just wanted to be sure of what we were doing.

"Jeb told me all about it; I should be able to find it." I think, I hope.

He looked at me speculatively before nodding. "Okay."

I smiled. "What are we waiting for then?"

He gave a slight smile back before walking over to where the door to the outside was. He ran his hands over the catch and then called Nudge over.

"Do you think you could break this off?" he waved his hand at the metal lock.

Her smile widened. "Sure." I noticed that she had finally managed to drop the bars from the cages and was walking unhindered.

Nudge reached out, grabbed the catch and, with a simple twist of her wrist, broke it cleanly away from the door. Her smile was brilliant as she proudly stepped backwards, dropping the broken catch to the floor.

Gazzy ran over to the door excitedly and went to pull it open.

"Hey, slow down buddy." I told him, grabbing his arm. "We should probably do some planning before you just jump out of the side of the aeroplane.

He smiled sheepishly and I loosened my grip on his arm.

"First of all, when we're flying, we have to all stick together and if anyone gets tired or something else happens, we have to stop, immediately.

They all nodded and looked at me expectantly.

"You all know we're going to the house Jeb had ready for us, but it might take a little while to find it." My eyes flickered to Fang as I said this. "But don't worry, we will get there." We have to, I added silently. "Okay, any questions?"

Gazzy put his hand up and I smiled. "Yes?"

"Can we go now?"

My smile widened, "Yes, we can go now."

I walked over to the door and pulled it open.

Wind swirled into the hold, tossing my long hair around my face but I ignored it, looking down at the view.

It was as if the whole world was spread out below us, trees, rivers, roads, houses, everything that Jeb had told us about, so small below.

I reached out and grabbed Angel's hand on one side and Iggy's on the other, squeezing them both tightly before releasing them.

"Max?" Angel sounded scared.

I looked down at her. "Yeah?"

"I've never flown before, what if I can't do it?" I noticed that Iggy and Nudge also looked a bit pale.

I ignored the doubt curling in my own stomach; I hadn't flown before either and answered her, trying to sound reassuring. "You'll be fine. If you fall I'll catch you." I mean, how hard could flying be?

I closed my eyes for a second, enjoying the feel of the wind on my face, then opened them again, looking at the members of my family lined up on either side of me.

"We'll go one at a time," I caught Fang's eye and nodded slightly.

We all stepped back from the edge as he spread his dark wings and jumped. Iggy followed him quickly and then Nudge, Gazzy and Angel.

I took a deep breath and jumped as well, pushing off from the edge of the plane with my feet and unfurling my wings as I did so.

There was a sickening moment where I just fell and then the wind caught my wings and I was jerked somewhat painfully upwards.

I opened my eyes and quickly checked that everyone was around me and somewhat stable in the air before grinning; I was flying, just like I had always dreamed. Flying away from the school, the Whitecoats, away from that woman who claimed to be my mother and, probably most importantly, away from the horrible past.

Fang was looking in my direction while the others were uncertainly flapping their wings. He jerked his head away from the plane, as if asking if we were going to get going any time soon.

I nodded. "Come on," I yelled out to the others. "We've got a house to find."

**...............................................................................................................................**

**A/N: Well, there you go; the end. I do have part of an epilogue typed but I don't know if I'll post it.**

**Anyway, concerning a sequel, I think one needs to be written; this story has a lot of loose ends that really need to be tied up. If you do want a sequel, please tell me in a review.**

**Thankyou to goldenrose37, Sarra Elizabeth, dusk3ttex01, Clouded Horizon, clairerox101 and Fuzzylogic, who all reviewed the last chapter. I would also like to thank the people who reviewed other chapters as well; especially Love is the key to the world, who was the first person to review. **

**Thank you all for reading the story, I hope you enjoyed it, please review and tell me what you thought. **


	11. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

**MAX POV**

Two months have passed since we jumped from the plane. Two whole months, it seems both longer and shorter than that. Shorter because we had been having so much fun just being free, but longer because it had been hard adapting to our new life, hard, but still fun.

We had found the house, it was just like Jeb had said it would be; perched up in the mountains, two arms of the 'e' hanging out over the edge of a canyon. It was winter now, and freezing cold. There had been clothes inside the house but not many were the right size, having been bought years ago, but we managed to find some.

Right now, I was standing out on the balcony, hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate. There had been some food in the house when we arrived. Most of it was canned, thank God, but not all of it was still good. We had quickly learnt to avoid anything with meat in it after a painful experience of food poisoning when Gazzy ate some pork.

I grimaced at the memory, recalling it all too clearly and absentmindedly pulled my jacket tighter around my body.

"What is it?"

I jumped as Fang spoke from beside me. He was a quiet walker, a really quiet walker.

"Just remembering the pork incident." I told him. A small smirk graced his features and he nodded slightly, showing that he, too, remembered what had happened.

We stood in silence for a while longer, forearms resting on the wooden rail of the balcony. This morning was freezing, even for a mountain winter, or so I would imagine. Small clouds of white drifted down over the canyon every time Fang or I exhaled.

I found the silence somewhat encouraging and finally dared to breach a subject that had been bothering for me for a while.

"Fang?"

He made a noncommittal response in reply.

"You know that morning we were put in the cages," He tensed, probably realising what I was going to say next. "Why didn't you help? Why did you just stand there?"

He stood still for a very long time, his dark figure clearly outlined against the white of the surrounding snow. I began to think that he wasn't going to answer.

"I don't really know." His voice was soft but it carried clearly through the mountain air. "I hadn't seen you in years, not even a glimpse until that day in the hall. I didn't know if you were still the same Max, I didn't know if you wanted my help."

I took a moment to digest this. It sort of made sense to me but I had never really picked Fang as the indecisive type. We had all changed a lot in the years we had been apart. Jeb's death had affected all of us in its own way as well. It was still awkward now, us all living together, sometimes it felt like we were just strangers living in the same house.

I guess Fang hadn't really known how to act; he had still been confused from our sudden, and surprising, reunion. Hell, I was still recovering from it now.

He was watching me, dark eyes curious, waiting to see how I would respond. When I looked up from the snow-clad treetops, however, he looked away, staring out at the pale sky.

Making a split second decision, I stepped forward and hugged him, wrapping my arms around his thin frame. Then, before he could react, I let go and turned around and went inside, taking my now empty cup with me.


	12. The Sequel

**Concerning the Sequel**

**Hello everyone, I hope you all had a nice Easter and thank you once again for reading my story.  
For those of you that don't know, I have started writing the sequel for this story and it is posted as 'Free, for now'.  
So, if anyone wants to read it, you now know how to find it.  
Perinne**


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